Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Diplomacy ❯ Firecracker ( Chapter 3 )

     Els ewhere in Konoha, another girl from the Hyuga clan trained.

     Hyuga Hanabi was currently on the grounds of the home of a friend of her father’s. According to her father, Hyuga Hiashi, the man was an old friend of his. One of his teammates from as far back as their days as Genin, in fact. Hanabi had been polite, as was required of her, but had made use of the first possible escape she could in order to avoid listening to the dull adult conversation. Her father, before allowing Hanabi to leave, had ordered her to do her daily exercises.

     So she now worked in the small mansion’s training field (a staple of any prominent Shinobi home). She had already done her taijutsu exercises and was now onto the part she had come to enjoy most. The training of her own Byakugan. Being nine years old and not yet a Genin, she still had a long way to go in mastering the power of her genetic inheritance. She could activate it, see the Chakra circulatory system enough to begin learning Jûken-style martial arts, and possessed impressive range for her age. On the other hand, she had yet to be able to see Tenketsu, the junction points within the human body’s Chakra system that could be manipulated by a Jûken master to increase, decrease or simply stop the flow of Chakra in another’s body.

     She held out her hands before her and performed the hand seals necessary for her Kekkei Genkai’s activation. The veins in her forehead bulged and her eyes underwent subtle changes as the Byakugan appeared. Once its power was completely in effect, Hanabi began focusing.

     What she was doing was primarily an exercise to increase her eyes’ range. She focused her Chakra as best she could into her Byakugan, briefly strengthening its focus. After a while, this would become difficult, even painful, to maintain. However, every time Hanabi performed the technique her tolerance for the Chakra increased and it became easier to channel it. Almost to the point where she could do so instinctively until she approached her limit.

     She had found this training far more interesting and rewarding than the basic taijutsu and ninjutsu she had so far been taught. The Byakugan was something all in her clan possessed, and she was very eager to learn all she could of its abilities. As she did so, the doors would open to many new techniques that would make what she was learning now seem like child’s play.

     As her vision’s range increased, she got a better idea of her surroundings. She saw the objects and people immediately around her. She could see behind the door to the mansion her father and his friend speaking. She could sense movement along the walls and roof of the compound from two Shinobi. She couldn’t make out much detail of their features. But it was clear both had their sights set on her. She might’ve been worried if she didn’t already know exactly who they were.

     Hyuga Taiki and his wife, Kiriko. Two members of the Branch family and Hanabi’s personal guardians. In the Hyuga clan, it was common for children of the Main Family to be watched over by members of the Branch. This was done until the child became a Genin, a junior level Shinobi and adult among the villagers of Konoha. From that point, their protection became their own responsibility. It was one Hanabi looked forward to, she didn’t want to have to be protected. She wanted to be strong enough to defend herself.

     Like her sister.

     Unlike most, if not all, of the rest of the Hyuga clan, Hanabi did not see her elder sister as weak. On the contrary, she held a great deal of respect for her nee-san. Hanabi had developed a knack for the various Shinobi arts. However, where Hanabi was a natural, Hinata was not. She constantly saw her sister fall clumsily or fail spectacularly at many of the tasks given to her. For a long while, she had held that same low opinion of Hinata as the rest of the clan.

     That was until she had witnessed to what lengths Hinata pushed herself. She had once snuck out of her room at night, hoping to sneak a snack from the kitchen, and saw her sister training on a practice dummy. Hanabi had seen her in that very place, with that very dummy, that very afternoon. The dummy’s padding had been badly worn since then. The stuffing had begun to come out with all the pounding her sister had given it. Hinata looked as though she was beyond exhausted. Yet, she was still standing, still training, still working.

     From that moment on Hanabi’s view on her sister had changed. When she saw Hinata fail to perform as expected, Hanabi no longer saw the clumsy fool who couldn’t so much as walk and chew gum at the same time. She saw someone who gave her all, and worked hard in spite of her every failure. Hanabi had watched her since, and felt that she, who success tended to favor, could never do what Hinata did. To get up no matter how many times she fell, that was a strength Hanabi wasn’t sure she possessed. From then on, Hanabi had felt Hinata was the stronger of the two of them.

     She had, more than once, wanted to say as much to Hinata. But could never quite find the words to do so. This was unusual, as Hanabi was a direct little girl. Where Hinata often kept quiet, Hanabi tended to speak her mind. Unfortunately, she didn’t always use the right words when doing so. Her father had lectured her more than once about choosing her words more carefully. She genuinely did not wish to inadvertently insult her sister, so she kept quiet.

     When her Byakugan training became too much, she ended it and rested. She found a shady spot under a tree and plopped herself down to let her body recover a bit. She nodded off briefly, only to be awakened by the sound of a wooden door sliding open. Her father walked out with the man they were visiting. She immediately got up and snapped to attention at her father’s approach.

     Hanabi expected to be scolded for falling asleep when she was supposed to be training. Surprisingly, though, he said nothing, and his friend laughed.

     “I guess both your girls like to work themselves to exhaustion, Hiashi.” he chuckled. Hanabi didn’t miss the implication in his words.

     “Both? You know Nee-san?” Hanabi asked.

     Her father glared at her slightly for her sudden outburst, but said nothing. The man, a husky gentleman with black hair and a goatee covering part of a face that seemed too wrinkled for his age. His eyes suggested a man of good humor, a very significant contrast to Hanabi’s very serious father.

     “I should hope I know her.” said the man, whose name Hanabi remembered to be Saruwatari Makoto, “Hinata-kun is my subordinate. She reports directly to me.”

     Hanabi was surprised. She hadn’t known that.

     “Which reminds me,” he continued, with a smile at Hiashi, “Has she mentioned her newest assignment? It’s a big one.”

     “She has not.” Hiashi replied. “Hinata rarely speaks of her duties at the diplomatic offices unless asked directly.”

     “Guess that’s no surprise. She isn’t the type to brag, is she?”

     No. Hanabi thought in agreement, She really is not.

     “So… um, sir, what is she doing right now?” Hanabi asked, being as polite as she could.

     “Chaperoning a girl from the Village of Mist.” Saruwatari answered. Hanabi was stunned, her sister was actually with a foreign ninja?

     “Is that wise?” Hiashi asked, “I’ve heard of the girl you speak of and I don’t know if Hinata is suited to the task.”

     “Actually, for many reasons she’s an excellent choice.” Saruwatari said with a chuckle, “If you’re worried about the girl proving untrustworthy, Hinata-kun can deal with her should it happen. She and Hinata-kun are close in both age and skill. Another reason I put them together is that Hinata-kun will likely overcome a couple of her own weaknesses through this mission.”

     “Nee-san’ ;s not weak.” Hanabi blurted out. She immediately regretted it as Hiashi gave her a stern “Hanabi…” of warning.

     “I didn’t say she was.” Saruwatari said, completely ignoring the other man’s chiding of his daughter, “I simply said she had weaknesses. There’s a difference. Not everybody is weak. But every single person has at least one weakness, even the strongest in this world.”

     “What’s her weakness, then?” Hanabi asked tentatively, looking at her father, who didn’t react. He had decided that if Makoto wasn’t bothered, he could let it go this time.

     “Her biggest weakness is simple, she’s shy. An introvert. She has difficulty dealing with people she isn’t used to. Especially one-on-one. Tsurukawa, that’s the girl,” Hanabi nodded, “she doesn’t have this problem. Quite the opposite. She’s very outgoing. She even, for some reason, likes giving people nicknames. She’ll make your sister speak up more whether Hinata-kun wants to or not.” he laughed again. Hanabi, unable to resist after getting a mental image of her sister being forced to socialize, laughed too. She also thought she saw a smile cross her father’s lips, but it vanished just as quickly.